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Two underground workshops producing millions of counterfeit brand-name condoms, including Durex, Okamoto and Jissbon, have been busted by police in Shanxi Province.

Yuncheng city police confiscated 1.24 million packaged and 460,000 loose condoms found at the scene, along with six laminating and packing machines, China News Service reports.

The fakes, estimated to be worth 5m yuan (US$771,000), are believed to have been sold across China through online channels such as Alibaba. The investigation began when Alibaba discovered the counterfeits and informed the brands' manufacturers and police, according to a report from China.com.

Five people, including the leaders of both rings, have been arrested and six workshops in an obscure village in the Yanhu district of Yuncheng city shut down, the police said.

The quality of fake condoms is generally poor, given they can burst during the course of sexual activity, causing unwanted pregnancies and greatly increasing the possibility of infection.

Chi Dehua
has been a staff editor at GBTIMES since 2013. She covers foreign affairs, business and culture.